If interest in a new plant is aroused, experienced hobby gardeners can use their profile as an initial contact. Get up close and personal with the outstanding attributes of a blue spruce. These properties characterize the spruce.
The blue spruce inspires with its bluish needles
systematics and appearance
The following profile aims to provide you with the most important information, which at the same time allows conclusions to be drawn about the planting of a blue spruce as a house tree or Christmas tree.
- Plant family of the pine family (Pinaceae)
- Genus of spruces (Picae)
- Name of the species: Norway spruce (Picea pungens)
- Common name: blue spruce
- Native to the Rocky Mountains, Idaho, Wyoming to Arizona
- Evergreen tree up to 35 meters high
- Hard, pointed needle leaves with a blue-grey colour
- Shallow roots with stable stability
- Annual growth: 30 to 40 cm
- Hardy to - 40 degrees Celsius
From the age of 30, a blue spruce develops yellowish male cones with a reddish tinge, which turn straw yellow when fully ripe.
use
Thanks to its blue-grey needles coupled with rapid growth, the blue spruce has made a name for itself as a popular Christmas tree. If the leaves weren't so rough and pointed, the stinging spruce would undoubtedly lead the annual ranking. Due to its soft needle dress and the weeks of durability, the Nordmann fir is the undisputed leader in popularity.
Since the blue spruce - despite its shallow root system - proves to be less susceptible to windthrow, it is sometimes used as a year-round hedge to protect against prying eyes and strong winds.
location claims
In their natural habitat, the climate is cool and mild. Low temperatures in summer and low precipitation in winter dominate the general conditions here. This results in a broad site amplitude with a high tolerance to dry and humid air. Solely with regard to the lighting conditions, the spruce prefers a bright, sunny place.
Its shallow root system establishes itself excellently in any nutrient-rich, fresh, moist soil. A loamy-gravelly structure meets the requirements particularly well. A pH value between 6.5 and 7.5 is ideal, but this is not a mandatory premise.
tips
Friends of bonsai art like to flirt with a blue spruce, especially because of its shimmering blue needles. Since the spruce does not tolerate pruning very well, other pine plants come into focus. The Japanese black pine is best suited for cultivation as a miniature tree, as it tolerates any form of trimming with scissors.